Mutterings of a Mad Woman

I'm creating a quick holding cell/dungeon in my office for this year's party. I'm not about to move my desk and all its contents out of the room (I think taking all my pictures down and clearing out most of my living room accessories is enough). SO I've created some really quick, easy and cheap walls.

They are simply large cardboard boxes flattened out (I left the bottom outside edge flaps attached. This allows it to stand on its own for the small wall seen here). I draw the outlines of the boards with black spray paint. Let it dry. Then take light coloured paint watered down a little, dip a brush in (removing some of the paint from the brush) and lightly drag the brush along each length of "board".

Sometimes it can take an excruciatingly long time to create labels for your Halloween display. I've posted 2 pdf sheets in my "Wretched Resources" section under "Printable Props and Decorations". You can see the first one here and view the second one here.

I love Home Sense. They already have cast their voodoo on me with their trinkets, pillows, glassware and pretentious gourmet food items that no one really needs (yet I feel empty inside because I don't have them). And now...now they have me right where they want me.

While I was aware that Home Sense always had cookie cutters and aprons for kooky, creepy kitchen creations, I did not know that their buyer has gone out to find what I would call upscale props. Not only are they inexpensive and interesting, they are well made. Solid. Heavy. And quite attractive.

On the far left in the picture is a Frankenstein candle holder. I also picked up the Dracula one but passed on the witch and mummy made in the same style (can't afford it all, can I?).

How many of you Halloweeniacs have suffered burnt fingertips from black light bulbs? Those little glass balls of death which are cheaply made and cast hardly any light will soon be a thing of the past.

His name is Doktor Viktor Von Kreep, monster enthusiast and talented cartoonist. Some of you may be aware of the publication "1313" or his website and fares on Kreepsville Industries. These are all great, but what I want to draw attention to is his blog for Headless Spectre Radio.

The Dok has put together track lists of classic 50's/60's monster music by bands such as "The Vooduos" and "The Astro Zombies", not to mention original clips from movie trailers (including Mad Monster Party, my favourite). Go to his website for a listen, bone daddies. I promise you won't be disappointed.

My dear devilish darlings, I've been waiting a long time to share this website with you. It's Ravensblight.com, and it's a lot of fiendish fun.

You can stop in the library to read Ray's stories, or play some online horror games in the arcade, but I'm going to gently shove you down the street to the toyshop as our first stop (I tend to zero in on toy stores in real life as well). Here you will find masks, game pieces, even helmets, all made out of paper and all ready for you to print out at home. It's quite fantastic. Enjoy.

In my neighbourhood, it's common to see scores of crisp white t-shirts, towels and sheets waving like flags from breezy backyard clotheslines. I have a clothesline too, and I used it for the first time in the 11 months we've lived here. It didn't seem to help me blend in though.

It's a bright and warm sunny Autumn Sunday afternoon, and I'm outside taking a serrated knife to some curtains.

The knife worked great. Scrape it sideways along the material, it creates one pattern of runs in the material. Draw it down, and it makes another. Press harder, and you get some small tears. Perfect.

Just wanted to shed some light on the blight of many fright-sites. Websmasters, please. Though having a skull that jabbers its jaw may seem spooky cool, think twice and remember: moderation is key. When you buckshot your website full of flash, you are creating not only an eerie eyesore, but a potential web browser crippler. Those flickering flames, blinking eyes and flapping wings together can cause your visitor's web browser to freeze, and in the worst situations, their computers to seize.

I needed a break from typing up activities to post on the site, so I decided to slither through the internet and find something to entertain my grey matter while my bony fingers rested. I found three things worthy of my short attention span.

It started when my parents let me spray paint a tombstone on the concrete wall of our basement for my Grade 4 Halloween party.

It was my first real Halloween party, and I wanted it to be great. I constructed a haunted house the length of the basement and lead people through dangling, slimy snakes hanging from the ceiling - just one example of the many forms and obstacles waiting for them in the shadow. I hadn't gotten over my fear of the dark, and I was deathly afraid of being in the basement alone (never mind with the lights off), but to make sure I could see well enough to safely guide each guest one by one through the haunted space, I sat alone in the pitch black basement for 20 minutes before the party goers even started to arrive.